Did we ever think that two college students with a gift for rhyming could hi-jack the advertising and promotions department for McDonalds for a few weeks with a clever rap about mcnuggets?  It happened.

Welcome to the Democratization of Self Expression.

What does this mean? It means that your brand is out of your hands. And it should be if you think about it. Your customers are important. What they think has always been important. It’s just that before, corporations loved being able to dish it down people’s throats. And look how far it got us. Chrysler. GM. Others. It doesn’t work, it’s never worked. The reason why Toyota came out of nowhere in the 70’s and 80’s and then eventually went on to dominate the auto market is because they listened to their customers. In a way, they were on the forefront of social media. They gave their customers a voice before they were able to have one on their own! With any news, we can now question it, put in context, analyze it and comment on it.

Who used to control content? Newspapers, TV, radio. Well, they don’t control it anymore. Now, it’s all about brand equity. Traditional advertisers can’t understand that they don’t control the message of their brand anymore. And they really don’t like it. But you see, they are doing themselves a great dis-service. Who controls the brand? Your customers. Your fans. Your prospects. And the way that you respond to them is the game. How do you do that? Well, you have to be able to deliver the goods for one. In other words, you need to be the expert. And secondly, you need to listen – very well. and this is hard for many people. It is a two way conversation!

Paul Levinson, a professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University and the author of “New New Media” said,” what makes these newer media so important is that it turns the consumers into producers. The idea that you can talk to someone and see their face and have a video conversation with them that doesn’t cost anything – that would have been science fiction 10 years ago.”

All human and business progress has led to this. This is the greatest opportunity any of us will ever know in our lifetimes. We need to grab it, take it, run with it, lead it and make it happen! Don’t squander this chance!

None of us understand how it’s going to revolutionize our society, but we’re in charge of where it’s going to take us, which in and of itself is revolutionary. And exciting!

”Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” –Calvin Coolidge

This quote…which, of course, is legendary and I believe, very true, has come to me time and time again as I’ve canvassed the country talking to corporations, associations and others about the power of Social Media. Seems many people get it and others flat out…do not. And it’s a little bit surprising who doesn’t: The C-Suite.

Why do they have a tough time with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the rest?

1. Resistance to change.
2. They don’t see a way to make money from it.

Well, these CEO’s, CFO’s, VP’s and others need to understand one very simple thing: they better get on board.  Quick.  The train has left the station. Social Media isn’t just a cool little new business strategy — it’s a tectonic shift in global commerce and communication.  As I have said before, along with the rise of the Internet itself, it’s our Industrial Revolution.  And it’s NOT about making money for the last time!  Yes, that’s important. Very important.  But, there are other aspects to business.  Communication and customers being two of them.

So, back to the poem. I think it deserves a little updating. In light of the topic at hand, here is my re-write of that classic Coolidge prose:

”Few things in business are more important than Acceptance to Change. Talent is not; nothing is more common than change resistant men and women with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Acceptance of change alone is omnipotent.” –Calvin Coolidge (along with Jon Wuebben)

I love how he emphasized the importance of social media and attempted to allay any fears that businesses might have about this exciting and very important type of new marketing. The “Top 10 Reasons You Need to Be on Social Networks” is a must read on page 102.

What else did I like?

• His positive, “you can do it” tone/approach. There’s a lot to know… and he breaks it down so it’s very easy to grasp
• His tips for brick and mortar businesses – like the email list building advice on page 82
• The viral marketing campaign success stories on page 95
• Chapter 11 on Social Bookmarking is worth its weight in gold
• Chapter 18 on video had some excellent suggestions as well

It appears Scott and I are both big fans of Gary Vaynerchuk, the guy from WineLibrary.com. Gary is a one man Internet Marketing Machine and Scott tells his story on page 257. Be sure to take a look at this one… lots to learn.

Finally, e-Riches is a slam dunk for one other reason: all the great charts and visuals throughout the book. I absolutely loved the chart he had on page 301 for Analyzing Your Online Competition. This is one area I think many companies miss – they forget to see who they are up against and what they need to do to compete more effectively.

All in all, this book delivers – big time. I recommend you pick up a copy today… and then buy a few for your business friends while you’re at it!

What does this mean? It means that the landscape of search is changing right before our very eyes. It means that small mom and pop companies that service the city they are located in are growing and finding new, more efficient ways of doing business.

A tremendous surge in the annual growth of local search far out paced growth of overall Web search.   How do we know about all of this?  I’m seeing it in my clients. I’m hearing it on the street. And studies are showing it too. In fact, a study conducted by comScore, Inc., a leading Web behavior research firm, and the Yellow Pages Association this past spring produced some very interesting data.

The study found that local search — the practice of using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services — grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches. By comparison, overall U.S. Web core searches grew at a much smaller rate of 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008. Local searches stand at 12 percent of core searches on the top 5 portals.

“Even if the searcher doesn’t know the company or brand they will ultimately give their business to, the decision to actually make a purchase has often already been made,” said Neg Norton, president, Yellow Pages Association. “That is a strong argument for local merchants to develop and maintain an online profile, if they haven’t already done so.”

I agree. And interestingly enough, 75 percent of the top 100 “local” keywords searched on the web are non-branded, which means that most people have not decided on a specific company when they start their search. If your company comes up…you have the chance at getting some new business, just for being in the right place (top of the local results on Google) at the right time (their search). Other interesting data:

• 54% of people out there have substituted the Internet and local search for phone books
• 90% of online commercial searches result in a local offline purchase
• 61% of all local searches result in a transaction

But not all companies are there yet. If you are a barber, manicurist, dry cleaner, laundromat, delicatessen, sandwich shop or any other local business that depends on local foot traffic, it’s time to get on it!  People want to do business with you. If you want to find out how, make sure you pay attention to a few important items:

Optimize each page of your site for SEO

• Make sure the HTML tags on your page include your location info where appropriate
• Make sure your address appears in at least a few places on your site, as crawl-able text
• Make sure your city name shows up in key places like title tags and headings
• Your contact information should be on every page of your Web site
• An optimized contact us page with all your information on it

Solicit Local Links

• Submit to directories and get your company listed.
• Some are paid listings – investing $100-400 is a small price to pay for the potential traffic. Most important ones:

- Superpages
- Yelp
- TrueLocal
- Local.com
- YellowPages.com
- Localeze
- MerchantCircle
- Hot Frog
- InfoUSA

• Mobile Search on the Rise

- There are 54.5 million mobile Internet users in the U.S., 15% of iPhone applications are local

• Google’s Local Business Center – Set up a Gmail account prior to filling out the form
• Yahoo’s Local Search – Set up an account before you proceed with the listing
• Live Search Local Listing Center – Set up a Microsoft Live account
• GetListed.org – a one-stop shop for generating multiple listings
• Look at directories that cater to your local market

-  Ask your local chamber of commerce and other local web directories to link to your site
-  Make sure that your information is complete and that it uses the same keywords on your site

• Reach out to your satisfied customers and ask them to come and rate your business and/or write a review.

-  Positive reviews will add more credibility and help you stand out in the crowd
-  Send review links to all of your clients, and ask them for a brief positive review

• Study your competition and find out where they have local link groupings

-  Local link groupings: Page on the Internet where all, or most of, your competitors get incoming links.

• Link your location page to your Web site as well as your Facebook and Twitter pages

Once you’ve done all of this, I guarantee you more business will be coming your way. It’s not too late to jump on the web train! But “The Local Express” is leaving soon…

…OK, we know you have. But are you using it?

Many people have complained about the time commitment for social media and the proliferation of all these new online places we need to have a presence on. But you see, here is the secret: The power of leveraging is the answer. When you write something on one vehicle (Say your blog) and its gets posted to all of them – that makes your time more efficient, right?

Remember that not everyone gets all their information from the same source. A devoted Twitter fan may not read any blogs.  Someone surfing online may have never been on Facebook. The key is to have all of your content on all of the various channels; unless, of course, the content was specifically designed and intended for a certain audience. This is rare however.

Here are a few other important notes:

• Whenever you produce new content ask yourself:  Where could this be posted/placed?  How will I distribute it?
• Put together a content strategy and calendar – get yourself organized!
• What types of content?  site, articles, press releases, whitepapers, case studies, blog, video content, webinar recordings, podcasts, there’s a ton of them to use
• Connect your Twitter account to your blog, your Facebook page and everywhere else you can
• Put your partners, clients (user generated content) and others to work – get some guest bloggers at a minimum
• Search Google Trends and Twitter for keywords that relate to your business and write articles, blog posts and other content around them.
• In developing your content, don’t forget the keywords  – use them in your content and meta tags
• It’s important to be relevant and lead the conversation. In time, you’ll become an authority figure in your industry, establish a solid reputation and build a brand around your company – and YOU!

Finally…Promote your content!   People need to know it’s out there. Become friends with the “thought leaders” in your industry and start building those relationships. They’ll help you get the word out. Also, submit articles through Article Marketer,  press releases through PR Web or other service, add your link everywhere you can, promote your articles through social bookmarking tools, etc. Publish your RSS feed everywhere you can. It’s all in the name of Leveraging.

Of course, leveraging content didn’t start with the arrival of social media.  If you’ve been leveraging your content for years like we have, then you’ll know how powerful re-purposing blog posts, email newsletters and even printed collateral material can be.  Maximize it.

So how are you leveraging your content?  Talk to us…

Of course, we all know the exponential growth and benefits of social media, the tried and true power of email marketing and other important tactics, but ask yourself this: are any of these coming from someone else? (ie. Not you)

People love hearing what other people think. It’s that simple. Look at epinions.com. How about Trip Advisor or Amazon reviews? What would they be without those trusted opinions?  Rule # 1: It’s got to come from a third party. (ie. your clients)  This is what gives it the power.

A Few Helpful Reminders when it comes to Testimonials:

• Ask every client for one – don’t leave any out. I made this mistake once and finally got a call from the client – no joke…9 months later…who had a glowing review ready for us to use.  Geez, I wish I could have had that right after the project was completed!
• Put together a nice email that you can send out to all of your previous clients at once. Explain that you “always like to know how our service was and would love to see how we did for you… if you wouldn’t mind providing us with a quick testimonial, we’d appreciate it!”
• If you like, tell your client that you will provide them with a free report, white paper or discount on future service in return for the testimonial. This isn’t bribery. It’s just plain smart.
• See if you can get a variety of testimonials from various industries that you serve. The more breadth and depth you have, the better. Like most companies, you probably serve a large number of unique accounts… leverage this and you appeal to a wider group of prospects
• You may have to ask 2-3 times, but definitely stay after them. If you don’t hear back after three times, assume that you may not get one from them.  At that point, you may want to see if there was a problem with service… not a great thing to learn about, but gives you the chance to make it right.
• Going forward, ask for a testimonial about a week after the project is completed.  This is your best chance for success.
• If the benefits of your service take time to take effect for your client (like SEO Services for example), perhaps ask them again in 3-6 months to see what the positive change was.
• Add your testimonials to your website – maybe one on the home page, a page that lists all of them, and then use them in all of your other materials – email newsletters, blog, printed collateral, proposals, etc. LEVERAGE – LEVERAGE – LEVERAGE.  Just let your clients know you will use them in this way.

If you have a client that turned out to be an amazingly successful project, you may want to consider doing a Case Study with them. This is great content to consider as well, and is essentially a testimonial on a much wider scale.  It includes before and after examples, metrics, project goals, outcomes, etc..

Want to supercharge your testimonials?  Add a photo and contact email or phone number for them (assuming it’s okay with your client). Better yet, add video to the equation and let your client verbally explain how well you did.  Can you imagine how powerful your site would be with 10 high impact video testimonials on your site?  Now, that’s content. Content that converts.

Want to see how it’s done?  Take a look at some of ours…

So, now its time. Get out there and start gathering those client testimonials!  You can thank me later.